Nine people were killed when the business jet they were in crashed into an Ohio apartment building, officials have confirmed.

Two pilots and seven passengers were killed aboard the 10-seat Hawker H25 when it clipped utility wires and crashed into an apartment building in Akron on Tuesday afternoon, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Bill Haymaker said.

Nobody was home at any of the apartments, and there were no other injuries.

Florida real-estate company Pebb Enterprises said that two of its executives and five employees were among the plane's passengers.

A mass-fatality team has begun work to recover the bodies of victims, while investigators try to determine what caused the crash.

The jet took off from Dayton and planned to land at Akron Fulton International Airport, about two miles (three kilometres) from where it crashed.